Moment that was too much to bear for Jim Swire

IT was the moment the families of the victims had waited for, prayed for, and in some cases, given up hope of ever seeing. For Jim Swire, it proved too much to bear.

Nine months after the trial began, and 10 years after the two Libyans were first accused, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, in traditional white robes and shashiya hats, were shown into the court at exactly 11am.

Megrahi's brother Mohammed gave him the "thumbs up" as he glanced briefly through the bullet-proof glass separating the public gallery from the well of the court. They could have been reunited within minutes.

Both accused had been impassive, Megrahi almost arrogant in his nonchalance, throughout the trial. But he was the more nervous of the two as they waited to hear their fate. On the other side of the glass wall, the Libyan relatives were separated by the width of an aisle from the Americans and British who lost wives, husbands, daughters and sons. The two groups mostly avoided each other's gaze.

The uneasy silence that followed the arrival of the accused was broken in a minute as an official carrying a ceremonial mace led the three judges, in their scarlet and cream robes, into court. Lord Sutherland, his voice grave and authoritative, might have been presiding over another domestic murder in Scotland.

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"My Lords, have you reached a verdict in respect of each accused on the second alternative charge [the murder of 270 people]?" asked the clerk of court.

"Yes, we have."

"Would you give your verdict in respect of the first accused?"

"Guilty."

"Is that verdict unanimous, or by majority?"

"Unanimous."

The words produced gasps from the families of the victims, who held hands and fingered photographs of their loved ones. The Libyan relatives looked straight ahead. Only Megrahi's brother, whose optimistic gesture had not been justified, slumped in his seat and wiped away tears with a paper tissue.

The "not guilty" verdict that followed immediately for Fhimah produced no reaction from the accused, but the full verdict had released the tension felt all through the court. In the moments that followed, Dr Swire swayed and fainted. As his son William tended him, and as the Lord Advocate detailed the human cost of the atrocity, the other relatives turned to see what had happened.

One woman cried out as she saw his ashen face, and he was carried, barely conscious, from the court to be treated by a doctor. But Dr Swire, who began his single-minded campaign immediately after losing his daughter Flora, had seen it to the end.

Day 85 was all but over in 20 minutes. The formal verdicts were read out, and Fhimah was allowed to leave, with Megrahi watching him go. They were not able to exchange a last word. There were no histrionics in court.

The verdict left both sides with something to be grateful for and something to regret, as well as a moment that none of them will ever forget.